Love Will Tear Us Apart, by Joy Division

Traditionally, love songs don't sound like this. Love stories don't sound like this. We know how they're supposed to go; romantic comedies from Jane Austen to Bridget Jones and everything in between reflect the common perception - they lovestruck couple overcome obstacles and misunderstandings, and the story ends when they get together, or (even better) get married. No-one tells us what happens next - the assumption is that, if they're right for one another, it'll work out, as if by magic.

When the routine bites hard, and ambitions are low

And resentment rides high, but emotions won't grow

This song tells us otherwise - a life with the person you love does not always turn out the way you thought it would. It is about the slow and painful demise of a marriage, a bitter and resentful meditation on the end of a great love.

Why is the bedroom so cold?, you turned away on your side

Is my timing that flawed?, our respect run so dry?

Not much happens throughout - there is no great betrayal and no angry denouement. But this is the strength of the song, it illuminates the pain caused by a gradual growing apart rather than the sting of a sudden break-up.

Yet there's still this appeal, that we've kept through our lives

Worse still, it reminds us that there will always be something between the two lovers regardless of water under the bridge; no-one gets out of love with a clean slate.